Baggage Handler Narrowly Escapes Icy Death Trapped in Airplane Cargo Hold
- Posted on February 10, 2011 at 6:50am by
Meredith Jessup
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A plane departing from Washington, D.C.’s Reagan National Airport was slightly delayed Monday morning after passengers alerted the flight crew to shouts and pounding coming from under the plane, the frantic actions of an airport baggage handler who was accidentally locked into the airliner’s cargo hold while loading luggage.
According to the New York Times, a fellow baggage handler closed the cargo compartment door, unknowingly trapping his colleague inside.
The trapped handler was also assigned to operate the tug that pushes the plane back from the gate, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. As workers waiting to move the plane noticed that the tug driver was missing, the co-pilot opened a side window and yelled to the ground crew that someone was ‘yelling and pounding’ from inside the cargo hold, the FAA said.
After the worker was freed unharmed, he drove the tug to push the plane back from the gate, and the plane, an Embraer E-170, left a few minutes early, completing its trip without further incident.
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nelan72
Posted on February 11, 2011 at 3:45pmLucky for him he was at Washington, D.C.’s Reagan National Airport for no planes ever leave the ground.
Report Post »Derfel Cadarn
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 6:03pmWhat was the tug driver doing in the cargo hold? Perhaps he is not what he appears to be anything out of the ordinary should be suspect.
Report Post »katamb55
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 3:12pmDon’t tell passengers this – I’m ready to try it so I can take on as much luggage as I want on my next flight to Philadelphia! ROFLOL!
Report Post »FFPanama
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 2:28pmOnce again someone writing an article trying to sensationalize it when they have no idea of what they are talking about. The cargo hold is pressurized and maintains the same temperature as the cabin. Otherwise you would have frozen liquids when you arrived, any liquids would freeze and break the glass bottles. Sealed plastic containers would explode from the lowered pressure. All pets would freeze to death and/or die from lack of oxygen. I could go ad-nasium. Come on BLAZE I know you used to work for the Huff Post, but this is the Blaze and you should Report the TRUTH and only the TRUTH !
Report Post »RWNJ01
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 12:27pmThe cargo holds are part of the pressure vessel and are presurized and temperature controlled to the extent that the cabin is. There would have been no icey death.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 11:26amEveryone needs a little nap time at work.
Report Post »patchouli42
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 11:18amOddly enough, I was in Dulles last friday sitting in the smoking room waiting for my flight. A crew came in between flights and were chatting with a flight attendant sitting across from me. In the course of the conversation a crewmember indicated that he used to work at Reagan International and that it was “hell” to work there since they were grossly understaffed.
I guess he wasn’t joking.
Report Post »jagr1850
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 10:30amm/b a little too much smokin on the tarmack…..like open that final bag he loaded in the plane……
Report Post »SDFlowerChick
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 9:36amLOL… That’ll teach him for taking too long to ransack our luggage…
Report Post »danjag
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 8:51amThe Government will now ban baggage in order to keep the baggage handlers safe. It will also make all of us safer by eliminating the possibilty of loading a bomb hidden in the luggage. Don’t think this will reduce your time in the airports, since you will no longer need to check your luggage, the government sees this as a trade-off to perform more invasive and thorough searches of passengers.
Report Post »Rickfromillinois
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 8:21amAs far as I know this is the first time this has happened so we need to make changes in all airplanes just in case it happens again in the next 100 years or so. There were no injuries this time but the next time there may be. Perhaps they could put a bed in the cargo hold with electric blankets, a refrigerator and microwave in case the trapped individual gets hungry, and a TV with a large choice of movies so that he doesn’t get bored.
Report Post »GUT_CHECK
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 7:52amwho was the folol that reported this?
Report Post »this is hardly even worthy of telling a spouse , after work.
Desert Dog
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 7:35amI thought airline employees fly free………………………
Report Post »emertz8413
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 8:20amYes, but only in the cargo hold! hahahahaha
Report Post »GeauxAlready
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 7:25am.
Report Post ».
This is his YouTube moment…………
DagneyT
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 7:11amWinchester001, Listen to yourself, man! Get a grip! You have been inside the nanny states of America too long!
Report Post »shane2813
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 7:06amIt’s Obamas fault.
Report Post »BeckFan1964
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 7:26amnod
Report Post »paulnashtn
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 3:18pmNOT, its Bush’s fault
Report Post »dnaburns
Posted on February 12, 2011 at 4:12pmNot, its Beck/Palin/Limbaughs fault for their hateful speech.
Report Post »Ironmaan
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 7:03amThat was a close one.
Report Post »http://guerillatics.com
winchester001
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 7:02amWonder if anyone is going to put a handle on the inside of that door, or a panic button to alert the crew. Maybe just wait until someone is hurt???????? How many other planes are like this?
Report Post »the_ancient
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 7:17amUmm why do you need either?
There is a limited number of personnel assigned to a ground crew, It should be easy for the coworkers to keep track of each other, those that cant probably should not be on the ground crew to begin with
Report Post »82dAirborne
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 7:35amBecause the bad guys could then open the door in flight!
Report Post »lillianrose
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 7:39amThey were probably looking for another guitar to break
Report Post »Cemoto78
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 7:49amWhat ever happened to Bill? He was just here a minute ago.
Report Post »decendentof56
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 7:59amHard to believe the other handlers would not know. But, seeing the apathy of some of my union collegues at the phone company, I would believe anything. It males me wonder just how safe the area around the plane is with regards to any terrorist activity.
Report Post »kindling
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 10:26amJust based on things that happened where I used to work I would suspect it was not an accident that the door was closed with him inside. It looks like an accident but it was a warning that may have become a “tragic accident” that got rid of someone that had caused trouble.
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